Characteristics of organic rice cultivation of farmer groups at Gajah sub-district, Demak district, Central Java Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Research was aimed to study the organic rice cultivation technology practiced by farmers at Gajah sub-district, one of organic rice centers in Demak district, Central Java Province, Indonesia. Survey method was used throughout the experiment. Sample of respondents were taken from 3 different organic rice farmer groups such as Sri Rahayu, Mawar and Kumpulsari at Mlatiharjo and Gedondong villages. Primary data was collected quantitatively by distributing questionnaires to the respondent. Data was analyzed to evaluate the performance of inter-group observation and relationship of behavioral levels of organic rice cultivation. The results showed that the dominant level of organic rice cultivation technology were moderate category (78.33%), high category (16.66%), and less category (5.00%), respectively. There was significant difference in regression relationship Y = 18.400 + 0.298 X1 + 0.188 X2 (R = 0.544) between knowledge and attitude toward organic farming cultivation level. The Mawar farmer group showed the highest behavior of organic rice cultivation (36.5 score), but it was not significantly different from Sri Rahayu (34.71 score) and Kumpulsari (32.57 score). The level of appplication of organic rice cultivation technology among farmer group was uniform in the medium catagory so it still need to be developed, score).